1990: "Aftermath", Nightmares on Wax

One of the clubbier tracks to drop on Warp in the early days was this follow up to Nightmares on Wax's 1989 hit, "Dextrous". "Aftermath" is too minimal and subdued to qualify as rave, but it did boast a formulaic house vocal refrain, which is a lot more of a nod to mainstream club culture than the label could be counted on for once the likes of Aphex Twin and Autechre started popping up.

Nightmares on Wax released an album in 1991 before falling off the face of the earth for a few years, finally returning in 1995 to re-establish themselves as a pivotal act in the trip hop scene.

[ed. note: ignore the "1991" in the YT vid title; I've verified through several sources that the original "Aftermath" single was released in 1990, though the track's appearance on the 1991 N.o.W. album A Word of Science: The First and Final Chapter may have resulted in the confusion.

Also, I'm beginning to think that Jarvis Cocker must have been Warp's house visual guy at the time.]

1990: "Testone", Sweet Exorcist

Another early Warp Records signing was Sweet Exorcist, a side project of Richard H. Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire). Kirk must have been funneling a large part of his talent into these side projects, because around this same time Cabaret Voltaire were just kicking off their acid house phase in truly anemic style; they'd rebound and establish legit credentials in the genre with 1992's Plasticity but, suffice to say, there will be no WKMR coverage of their 1990 elevator house opus Groovy, Laidback and Nasty.

By the way, the following clip was directed by Pulp's Jarvis Cocker. They must have met in a bar or something...